The rapid expansion and use of computer networks such as the Internet by consumers, corporations and other institutions has resulted in the generation of large amounts of data and information that must be stored. To solve this storage need, data storage system developers have engineered and produced high-capacity data storage systems that can be coupled, for instance, to a corporate local area computer network (LAN) in order to store information and data generated and managed by computer systems on such a network. The LAN network may be coupled to one or more larger wide area networks (WAN) which form or connect with part of the Internet. The server computer systems on the LAN can operate to provide access to data in the data storage systems by receiving and servicing data access requests sent from computer systems (e.g., clients) on the local or worldwide (e.g., Internet) network. As a result, the data storage systems can share the data or other information that they store and maintain in a worldwide manner.
A typical high-capacity data storage system includes a plurality of data storage devices such as disk drives which collectively operate under the control of one or more software driven microprocessors to access (e.g., store or retrieve data) data in accordance with data access requests (e.g., input-output read or write requests). A computer system such as a server can transmit the data access requests to the data storage system over one or more high-speed data interfaces that couple the computer system to the data storage system. The high-speed data interfaces may be, for example, small computer system interfaces (e.g., SCSI, Ultra-SCSI, or the like), Fibre-Channel interfaces, ESCON interfaces, or the like. The data storage system may also include a shared memory system and an arrangement of one or more data buses that interconnect the data interfaces, microprocessors and data storage devices.
Due to the overall complexity of large capacity data storage systems, such data storage systems frequently include a service processor which is responsible for providing access on behalf of data storage system service technicians to the various components within the data storage system. As an example, a large capacity data storage system such as one of the Symmetrix models of data storage systems manufactured by EMC Corp. of Hopkinton, Mass., U.S.A., includes a service processor as one of its components. The service processor is highly integrated into the design of the data storage system and operates software programs that allow access, by a service technician, to the status, operations, and functionality of the components that make up the data storage system.
By way of example, using the service processor, a service technician can load a new version of a microprocessor control program into the data storage system to allow the data storage system to operate using the most up-to-date data release of the control program. A service technician can also use the service processor to examine the status of components within the data storage system in the event of a component failure. The service processor generally provides an interface to allow access to data storage system data structures, trace data, and/or other system or component information maintained by components within the data storage system. The service processor is not used as an interface to read and write the large volumes of storage data that the data storage system maintains on behalf of computer systems. Instead, the service processor provides a service, maintenance and failure diagnosis interface into the data storage system which is used by service technicians for problem diagnosis, proactive and preventative data storage system maintenance, and upgrades (e.g., replacement of software control programs).
Generally, there are two ways in which a service technician can access the service processor functionality within a data storage system: local access or remote access. Using the local access technique, a service technician can use a keyboard and display (e.g., a computer monitor) which are built-in to the data storage system to access data and perform service processor functionality while being physically present in the facility (e.g., a corporate computing system facility) that operates the data storage system. Using the remote access technique, a service technician can operate a service software program on a service workstation that is remotely located from the data storage system facility to remotely access service processor functionality. In the remote access technique, the service processor includes modem functionality that allows the service software program operating in the service workstation to “dial-in” to the service processor using a proprietary communications protocol. The service software program operating in the service workstation provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for the service technician to send data storage system administration commands to the data storage system using the proprietary communications protocol over the dial-in connection. The service technician can thus remotely operate the service processor and its associated functionality.
In some conventional implementations, the service processor can also perform one or more data storage system diagnostic programs which can provide around the clock monitoring of the operation of the data storage system. When a data storage system diagnostic program detects a problem in the operation of the data storage system, such as a failed component (e.g., failed disk drive, power supply or the like) the diagnostic program can automatically cause the service processor to use the modem functionality to place an outgoing service call (e.g., a “call home”) to a service workstation located, for example, in a remote service facility provided by a vendor of the data storage system. The service processor can use the call home connection from the service processor to the service facility to send a service ticket to the service facility indicating the nature of the problem encountered by the diagnostic program within the data storage system. A service technician located at the vendor service facility that reviews the service ticket can then use the remote service processor access technique outlined above to dial-in to the service processor control program using the proprietary service processor communications protocol in an attempt to remotely administer, further diagnose, and possibly correct the problem within the data storage system as identified by the service ticket.